The internet is the most amazing thing to ever happen to the industry of music. In the current state of the music business, this bold assertion that is likely to trigger violence and looting. Perhaps a better assertion would be that, Internet is probably the greatest thing that’s ever happened to the users of electronic media. Find music
This comes from an Australian large country with a relatively small population that is grouped predominantly into a few cities along the coast; in many ways, it is an insignificant technological and cultural backwater. The internet has allowed us (Australians and other people around the world as well) the ability to access remote underground cultures and helped develop a world culture and a better understanding.
Nearly 15 years ago 15 years ago, the Mortal Kombat movie was released and was my first experience with industrial music. It was an unsettling and powerful experience for a teenager still dealing with the trauma of growing up in an Christian traditional family. This Mortal Kombat soundtrack was the first album I had in my collection which I actually enjoyed. However, I was lost in the woods and had a an almost fatal encounter with an unbridled, unbridled variety (one shouldn’t play Alanis Morissette while listening to The Backstreet Boys, if at any time) as well as the wave of indie rock that swept through the nineties and then jumping onto the localized grunge revival around the beginning into the new millennium.
Did I mention that I lived in the bush? Ah the memories… The point is that without internet, Australians are stuck with homemade, half-baked rubbish (stuff that plays radio) as well as imported “mainstream” (the other stuff that creates the radio plays). Everything I know about industrial is derived from a few movie tracks and Reznor albums. There are, or they were before the advent of the internet killed the majority of them. Indie (indie in the sense of alternative but not the alternative that is a snare) music stores. However, these stores only provide an incredibly small portion of the actual music stores available.
Internet is beneficial for consumers, and will benefit the music industry as well, with more access to markets that aren’t being explored. We’ve all seen what’s wrong with the internet. We copy the crap out of everything that is processed by data. It’s because it’s simple to download for free, and music labels are a scourge. I’ve been guilty of downloading, so rest assured I’m not going to preach from my high and mighty alter. I did not even blink an eye as I downloaded KMFDM’s throughout my life. It’s difficult to record entire discographies, but it’s a game that we all play when asked about downloading illegally.
Music piracy is not beneficial. If you’re not aware but it’s time to were aware of it. Pirating music is detrimental to all of us. It’s not good for labels, it’s detrimental to the musician, it’s harmful for the industry, and it’s harmful to the consumer. Without money, artists and labels aren’t able to buy time from the capitalist system to create wicked music. In the other way If we don’t have to pay for music increasing numbers of musicians will create music in their spare time , away from their full-time work. Another effect of lower revenues is a decrease in the amount used to produce albums, which, unfortunately, means that many albums are released in lower-quality state. Is piracy ever justifiable?
My main argument in favor of pirates has always been why is it that people who can’t pay for music, let’s face it, some folks are unable to afford the roof above their head, need to be without? This isn’t the case when you consider the amazing podcasts that are free to download and social media pages of bands which allow users to stream at their own pace, and the huge amount of music made available under the Creative Commons License or similarly distributed for free (donations are still appreciated). This method of discovering music is a great way to avoid spending money on albums that might not conform to our expectations, another motive often employed by downloaders.
The internet is an incredibly powerful tool to the industry of music, but it certainly has cut in one direction more then the other. Like many of you, like the ability to buy and download music from the artist or via iTunes however, If we don’t stop the illegal downloading, high quality music is likely to be scarce. Art is art, and art is valuable in its own right for some, and less for others, but I feel that the industry of music, particularly in the independent sector has done an excellent job of meeting us halfway the way.
